The Covenant of Grace - Part II
THE COVENANT OF REDEMPTION
Dr. King Counts
When we look at how God accomplished the salvation of his people it is obvious that there was a plan; it was not done haphazardly but manifests great design, purpose, and wisdom. In Genesis 3:14-15, when God declares his purpose to send a savior through the seed of the woman. We are surely not to think that this was the first time that God had ever considered the Fall of Adam, or his provision of grace following his sin. We can see that all through the Old Testament period that God had a purpose to send a Savior who was to be the fulfillment of all of the types and shadows that were included In the sacrificial system. Indeed, just as any intelligent man does not work without some kind of plan and set purpose, so the Creator had a determined purpose to fulfill in redemption. There must have been an eternal plan before it was executed in the time and space of human earthly existence. This plan had to involve a cooperative agreement between the persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Is there evidence in the Scriptures which teaches that there was a definite and certain arrangement agreed upon within the Godhead? If we are to find such a teaching in the Scriptures we must not expect to find it explicitly stated in a particular passage of Scripture, but like such biblical teachings as the trinity, infant baptism, the continuing validity 0£ the principles of the case laws of the Old Testament1 we shall have to search the teaching of the entire Bible to find the answer. Vos writes (in Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., ed., Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation, p. 245ff)
In the dogma of the counsel of peace, then, the doctrine of the covenant has found its genuinely theological rest point. Only when it becomes plain how it is rooted, not in something that did not come into existence until creation, but in God's being itself, only then has this rest point been reached and only then can the covenant idea be thought of theologically.
In Luke 22:29, Jesus says, "And I confer on you a kingdom, Just as my Father conferred one on me." The word translated "conferred" Is from the Greek word "diathagie" (diaqhkh) which is often translated "covenant' in the New Testament. Jesus is saying that just as he has received a kingdom by covenant, the kingdom that the disciples would received would be given to them in the same way. This points us back to a time that Jesus must have entered into a covenant with God the Father in which he would receive a kingdom. A covenantal agreement among the persons of the trinity seems to be the meaning here. In verse 22 Jesus hints at this plan. "The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man who betrays him." A decree is an official order or decision, something that is settled and Is unchangeable. Jesus is saying that there was a plan, and that the plan was made and agreed to in covenant within the trinity.
Jesus is constantly hinting at this eternal trinitarian covenantal agreement in his teaching. "For I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me .....And this is the wilt of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:38-39) Notice what we have here, (1) In times past, before he came to earth, Jesus was sent for a task, (2) that task involved submitting himself to the will of the Father, (3) In this agreement in the past there were certain particular individuals that God had given to Jesus to save from sin and death.
Jesus points repeatedly to an arrangement (covenant) made, before the foundation of the world, to save selected individuals. We find this repeated in his words many times:
"That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none." John 17:12
"As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. John 17:2"
"I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word." John 17:6.
"I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me: for they are thine. John 17:9"
" And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one, as we are. John 17:11."
" Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)"
We can see the same teaching in the writing of the apostles of Christ. Ephesians chapter one reflects these same truths, 1'For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight in love) he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” Here we see that Christ stood for us in a covenantal agreement before creation. Christ was our covenant representative even as Adam would later serve as as a covenant representative (Rom 5). When the Scriptures say '1he chose us in him" it means that as God the Father agreed with Christ that he should die for the sins of his people, through this Christ became our representative, medator1 and covenant head. There is a sense then that as God entered into agreement for salvation with the Son, and as the Son was chosen, and elected to be our covenant head, we were elected through Christ’s election. Our election springs from this eternal agreement between God the Father and God the Son to save us from our sins. Charles Hodges writes:
“It is best …to take the words as they stand, and to inquire in what sense our election is in Christ….it was God’s purpose, as revealed in Scripture, to bring his people to these exalted privileges through a Redeemer. It was in Christ as their head and representative they were chosen to holiness and eternal life, and therefore in virtue of what he was to do in their behalf. There is a federal (covenantal) union with Christ which is antecedent to all actual union, and is the source of it. God gave a people to his Son in the covenant of redemption. Those included in that covenant, and because they are included in it - in other words, because they are in Christ as their head and representative -receive in time the gift of the Holy Spirit and all other benefits of redemption. Their voluntary union with Christ by faith, is not the ground of their federal union, but on the contrary, their federal union is the ground of their voluntary union. It is, therefore in Christ, i.e. as united to him in the covenant of redemption, that the people of God are elected to eternal life and to all the blessings therewith connected.”
Paul writes later about this eternal covenant of redemption when he says, “and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things (Ephes. 3:9).” The tact of God's rich grace was known within him in eternity past but not by men. Again, Paul says in verse 11 of Ephesians 3' "according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." God had a purpose and plan in the past, which was accomplished through Jesus Christ, the second member of the trinity. We see the same teaching in 2 Tim. 1:9, “who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” Again we read, Titus 1:2, “in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.”
Let us then summarize and bring together the teaching of the Scripture in regards to this covenant of redemption. Smith (The Covenantal Kingdom, chpt. 4) writes,
The covenantal outline may be applied to the covenant between the Father and the Son. First, the eternal counsel of God is the most profound example of covenantal transcendence -- the three Persons of the Trinity from eternity covenanting to save man from sin. Second, Christ is appointed to be the representative of the Godhead among men to reveal God (Jn. 1:18) and also to be the last Adam, to represent man before God (1 Cor. 15:45, 47; Rom. 5:12ff.). Third, Christ was given an appointed work (Jn. 17:4). Born under the law, He kept the law both for Himself and for those whom He would redeem (Gal. 4:4-5). His death for our sins was the supreme work assigned to Him from eternity (1 Pet. 1:19-20; Rom. 5:18-19). Fourth, God promised Christ a reward for His work -- the men whom He redeemed (Is. 42:6-7; 52:15; 53:10; Jn. 17:6, 9, 11-12, etc.). Fifth, the Messiah is predestined to become the "heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2), as the Last Adam who defeated sin and death (1 Cor. 15:21-28), as the true Seed of Abraham (cf. Rom. 4:13; Gal. 3:16), and as the Son of David who inherits the throne of the kingdom (Is. 49:8; Dn. 7:13-14; Heb. 1:2-14).
Therefore, there is a division of labor in redemption. The Father originates, The Son executes the Father's will, and the Spirit applies. Secondly, some passages seem to indicate this plan of salvation is by eternal covenant or commission (John 5:30, 43; John 6:38-40; 17:4-12) Thirdly, even though this is not a explicit teaching of Scripture, we have all the essential elements of a covenant and thus should term it a Covenant of Redemption. We have the parties - the members of the trinity We have the promises - salvation of the elect and a kingdom for Christ, with all authority and power in heaven and upon earth. We have the conditions - perfect obedience even to the death of the cross for Christ.
It therefore seems plain that the trinity entered into an agreement before the creation to provide redemption for the elect Our God is a covenant keeping and making God in his very nature.
Home: Purpose: Apologetics: Covenant Theology: Eschatology: Evangelism: Law and Gospel: Reformed Theology: Sacraments: Soteriology: Topical Issues: CPC Church: Downloads: Links